The gourmet burger trend has come full swing in the city, peaking with that $175 burger at Wall Street Burger Shoppe a few years back, and possibly ending with a return to no-frills burgers at Shake Shack. The Post took a look at one victim in the burger boom-and-bust, Old Homestead Steakhouse, who were recently forced to reduce the price of their $41 Kobe beef burger to $19. That $81 burger seems nowhere to be found.
The steakhouse introduced the burger in the more plentiful times of 2003. Co-owner Marc Sherry said, “We were selling about 100 a day. The more expensive it was, the more people wanted it. Wall Street guys ordered it as an appetizer and sent a car service to come pick up the burgers." But then, tragedy struck. “It’s the reverse of 2003,” said Sherry. “The economy tanked and now people want a cheap burger and they order it ‘to go’ so they don’t have to pay a tip."
Sherry says they're turning lemons into, um, burgers and are "starting a reverse price war" with their $19 deal. Sorry, guys, but considering a Shack Stack and a shake is $14, and a deluxe burger with cheese, bacon, mushrooms, tomato and lettuce is $12.95 at Paul's, you may have already lost the battle. Are you willing to drop the extra cash on Kobe beef, or should they leave that for the steaks and let a burger be a burger?
